The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

Are we going to lose the next war?

It seems as though the Biden junta is barreling along a road that leads to significant degradation of our ability to conduct military operations. Even if our soldiers and sailors weren't preoccupied with gender and how best to wear sexy red pumps, they are rapidly running out of the munitions required to conduct a war! And they aren't even getting the experience of firing that stuff...it is being sent to Ukraine and to a lesser extent Israel.

Unfortunately it isn't just a question of ramping up production, which is, in and of itself, a very big question mark. We have also degraded our ability to produce the raw materials that are vital in the production of modern munitions.

Global Conflicts Expose Dire U.S. Munitions Shortage

The United States military is severely short on high-end and artillery munitions at a crucial and strategic moment. As the calendar turns to 2024, Ukraine, using bombs and bullets from the United States, continues its slog of a war with Russia with no foreseeable end. Simultaneously, the U.S. continues sending artillery rounds to Israel amidst the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) assault on Hamas in Gaza. In the Indo-Pacific, American tensions with China remain high as Taiwan prepares for a general election with fears of Chinese interference and Chinese leader Xi Jinping promises the reunification of Taiwan with mainland China. In DC, alarm bells ring regarding the dearth of rounds required for these three distinct kinds of conflict. Central to this issue is an American paucity of rare earth minerals indispensable in producing these bombs, shells, and rockets. To address this shortage and ensure the long-term viability of ammo for high-end conflict, the U.S. must invest in and maintain innovative systems for processing and refinement of rare earth minerals.

This issue has vast national security implications, and a Trump presidency should address it immediately. A simple waiver to the appropriate mining and processing companies to operate outside of the EPA's maniacal restrictions and whatever other restrictions placed by the various federal and state authorities would be an appropriate beginning. Its justification is obvious, necessary, time sensitive, and vital for our national security.

And it will never happen, because we have ceded all power to an insane cabal of the progressive left, operating under cover of whatever political interest group can exert the most leverage to diminish the United States of America in whatever way they can.

So when China blockades Taiwan, we won't have the missiles to fight the Chinese Navy and the Chinese air force. We won't have the artillery shells to send to Taiwan to repel an invasion. We won't have the small-arms ammunition for their infantry. And that's just one place! We used to have the capacity to fight two theater wars. Now? We can't supply a small army fighting a border dispute while supplying an ally fighting an even smaller action.

Sure...there are reasons that go beyond politics. Modern weaponry is complex and requires more time to manufacture. But we know that! The logistics chains should have been in place long before we began to run out.

This cannot be anything other than a carefully planned outcome. How many thousands of military and civilian personnel are tasked with the logistics if supplying the United States armed forces with the material necessary to conduct and win wars?

Anyone saying that this was "unexpected" deserves a punch in the nose.

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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